Australian cities: plan for an extra 39 million people

The NSW government may be promising up to 170 thousand new dwellings in the next few years with its latest announcement of land releases and urban infill, but a West Australian urban planner says the thinking has to be on a much bigger and broader scale.

"Sydney's metropolitan plan only goes out to 2036, and we believe given the time it takes to transition cities that roughly speaking 20 years is probably not going to be enough" says Dr Julian Bolleter from the Australian Urban Design Research Centre at the University of Western Australia and co-author with Richard Weller of Made in Australia: The Future of Australian Cities.

By 2056 New South Wales is projected to have 10.2 million people, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says.

That's 3.3 million more people than 30 June 2007, a 48 per cent increase.

By 2101 the bureau's high end projection is for a total Australian population of 62.2 million.

Dr Bolleter told 702 Mornings that for the east coast of Australia, this means decentralization and a very fast train will be essential to make population spread workable and sustainable.

He also cautioned the NSW government that it needs to plan beyond announcements like the latest one promising new land releases for housing in the northwest and southwest corridors, as well as urban infill.